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State v. Bondurant3/20/1998
st be woven around the defendant from which he cannot escape and from which facts and circumstances the jury could draw no other reasonable inference save the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt." Id. 225 Tenn. at 484, 470 S.W.2d at 613.
Former Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-2-202 required that a killing be intentional, premeditated, and deliberate to constitute first-degree murder. In State v. Brown, 836 S.W.2d 530 (Tenn. 1992), our supreme court held that the element of deliberation contemplates a lapse of time between the decision to kill and the actual killing. The court stated that "the deliberation and premeditation must be akin to the deliberation and premeditation manifested where the murder is by poison or lying in wait -- the cool purpose must be formed and the deliberate intention conceived in the mind, in the absence of passion, to take the life of the person slain." Brown, 836 S.W.2d at 539 (quoting Rader v. State, 73 Tenn. 610, 619-20 (1880)).
Thus, in order to convict a defendant for first-degree murder, a jury must find that the defendant killed with coolness or deliberation and after reflective thought or premeditation. State v. West, 844 S.W.2d 144, 147 (Tenn. 1992); see also State v. Brooks, 880 S.W.2d 390, 392-93 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1993).
There is no specific time required to form the requisite deliberation. State v. Gentry, 881 S.W.2d 1, 3-4 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1993). Deliberation is present when the circumstances suggest that the defendant contemplated the manner and the consequences of his act. West, 844 S.W.2d at 147. While deliberation and premeditation are similar, they are defined as separate and distinct elements of first-degree murder. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-2-201(b)(1982)(deliberate act is "one performed with a cool purpose" and premeditated act is "one done after the exercise of reflection and judgment."); see also Brooks, 880 S.W.2d at 392-93.
Deliberation and premeditation may be inferred from the circumstances where those circumstances affirmatively establish that the defendant premeditated his assault and then deliberately performed the act. State v. Richard Nelson, No. 02C01-9211-CR-00251 (Tenn. Crim. App., Jackson, Oct. 14, 1993). This Court has held that Brown requires "proof that the offense was committed upon reflection, 'without passion or provocation,' and otherwise free from the influence of excitement" before a second-degree, intentional murder can be elevated to murder in the first degree. State v. David L. Hassell, No. 02C01-9202-CR-00038, slip op. at 3 (Tenn. Crim. App., Jackson, Dec. 30, 1992).
With regard to premeditation and deliberation, the Court in State v. Brown recognized the following relevant circumstances: (1) a deadly weapon was used upon an unarmed victim, (2) a weapon with which to commit the homicide was procured, (3) the homicidal act was part of a conspiracy to kill persons of a particular class, (4) the killing was particularly cruel, (5) the defendant made declarations of his intent to kill the victim, or (6) preparations were made before the homicide for concealment of the crime, as by the digging of a grave. Brown, 836 S.W.2d at 541-42 (citation omitted). The elements of deliberation and premeditation are questions for the jury and may be inferred from the manner and circumstances of the killing. Gentry, 881 S.W.2d at 3.
The facts of this case, albeit circumstantial, support the jury's finding of premeditation and deliberation. Denise, who the jury could have considered an accomplice, was the only witness as to the details of the murder. Accordingly, although not raised as an issue in this appeal, we note that the trial court properly charged the jury on acc
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